Universal metal-cutting apparatus



UNlvER'SAL MSE-'TPLUMLEY v AL C APPLIC UTUN ATloN FILED JAN G13^PPARATUS'1919.

, n Patented Y. v

SHEETS SHEET I lmmlunumuuunnunnmmnnmuumm., In ummmulmmunmnmu www gATTORNEY S. PLUIVILEY.

UNIVERSAL METAL CUTTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IANl I3. I9I9.

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STUART PLUMLEY, oF WESTEIELD, NEW JERSEY, AssIGNoR To vIiAvIs-JsoURNoN-VILLE COMPANY, QE NEW YORK, N. Y., ,A CORPORATION or' NEW YORK.

UNIVERSAL METAL-CUTTING APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters Patent.l Patented Sept 14, 1920.

ApplicationV filed January 13, 191e. seriai'No. 270,835.

To all Awhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, STUART PLUMLEY, a.

citizen of the United States, and resident of.

'estficld, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have inventeda new and useful Universal Metal-Cutting Apparatus,

of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to automatic apparatus for effecting cutting ofmetals by means of gases along irregular lines or in accordance with anydesired design 01' guide. The improvements are applicable, for example,to apparatus. of the type disclosed in the Bucknam Patents, No. i5l1,059,271,dated April 15,1913, and No. 1,104,239, dated July 21, 1914:,wherein the cutting torch is carried by a pantographic vor universallymovable frame, which is operated by a motor-driven tracer so as to causethe torch while cutting to reproduce l any given pattern. Thelparticular form of driven tracer disclosed in those patents is aswiveled wheel, which is steered by hand over a plane design. Thepresent invention makes the operation entirely automatic and insuresaccuracy, by employing a tracer or .feed member capable of adhering tothe boundary of a guide or templet, so that upon starting the motor thetorch executes thel desired cut without further attention.

In one form the tracer is magnetic, in another it is frictional, and instill another it utilizes both magnetism and friction to hold it to itscourse. The magnetic vfeed roller :55 operative along a vertical face oredge may also be embodied in conjunction with a universally movablesupport and a cutting torch in other specificforms of cutting apparatus.ln the drawings forming a part hereof:

Figure 1 is aJperspective-view of an apparatus embodymg the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the tracer and its drivingmeans;

.Figp 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the lower part of analternative fornr of tracer;

Fig. t is a similar view showing still another form; and

Fig.' 5 is a wiring diagram.

1 is a suitable frame, having a bearing post 2 at one end and a patterntable 3 at the. other end. A horizontal pantographic arm 4, comprisingpivotally jointed paral- 55 lelogram members 5, 6, 7 Vand 8, is pivotedat the joint between members 5 and 6 upon the bearing post. The member 7has a holder 9 for a downwardly directed, oxyacetylene or other cuttingtorch 10, and the member 8 is extended to Acarry a tracer 1 1 and anelectric motor 12 for driving it. With such a construction the movementsof the tracer are reproduced on `a smaller scale by the cutting flame,but the invention is not necessarily limited to this particular form, asother kinds of universally-movable or motion-reproducing frames may beemployed. As shownV more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3, thev tracer ismounted in a downwardly projecting hollow bracket 13, which is fixed tothe member 8. In the upper or neck portion 14 of the bracket isjournaled a shaft 15, bearing oniits upper end a'worm- Wheel 16, whichmeshes with a worm 17 on the shaft of the motor. On the lower end ofsaid shaft, within a frame portion 18 of the bracket, is a small spurgear 19, which i meshes with a large gear 20 on a vertical countershaft21, the lower end of which carries a small gear 22, meshing.with a largegear 23 on the upper, journal eX- tremity 24 of a rotary tracer member25. By means of these gears the speed of the motor is appropriatelyreduced at the tracer, and the speed may be varied in the ordinarymanner a r`heostat or motor-controller. not shown. i

The tracer member is journaled in bearings 26, 27 at top and bottom of alower -frame portion28 of the bracket, and in this form comprises anelectro-magnet having. concentric poles 29, 30, the said poles being atthe lower ends of a central core 31 .and

an encircling shell 32, the latter of which cated, to enable it to acteffectively as a feed roller. The bottom of thepole 30, together' withthe shoulder 33 upon the' central pole piece and the bottom of anon-magnetic spacer5h0, or any of these, form a friction face to bear'upon the top of the templet.`

By utilizing both poles, the magnet is made very effective to hold thefeed and guide roller against the boundary of the templet, and theaction of the coaxial rotating friction surface is such as to contributeto the same result. If desired, however, a rollerbearing foot 44, suchas shown in Fig. 3, may be placed upon the bottom of the tracer bracket,to hold the pole and shoulder 33 slightly above the top of the templet.,in order to relieve the motor of the frictional drag. y

The energizing coil 34, which is disposed about the core 31 and withinthe shell 32 has its terminals connected with insulated conductor rings35, 36 on the outside of the shell,lwhere they are in contact with brushterminals 37, 38 connected with bindingposts 39, 40 on the frame portion28 of the tracer bracket. These binding-posts are connected by suitablewiring 41, 42 in circuit with the motor 12 and a suitable source, suchas a battery, so that the same switch 43 which starts and stops themotor also energizes and denergizes the magnetic tracer which is drivenby it. As 'in the y Bucknam Patent 1,118,183- of November 24,

, disksv of the spool.

.l function to those illustrated inAF ig. 2 are 29E coperates with thetemplet.

1914, the switch is desirably Vconnected mechanically with the cuttingoxygen valve of the torch. Y

Fig. 3 shows a form of the tracer in which a bar magnet tracer member25a is employed. In this case only the one pole An annular foot 44,carrying a series lof antifriction balls 45 is shown attached to the.lower end of the tracer bracket, to bear upon the top of the templetand to hold the annular shoulder 33a 'of the magnetic tracer memberclear of-.it; butthis vfoot may be removed, and in that event saidshoulder will act as a friction top-bearing surface in the mannerdescribed in connection with the bottom face of the pole 30 of the otherform., The conductor rings 35, 36a in this instance are placed upon thetop and bottom Other parts similar in designated with the same Immeralswith supernumerals.

F ig. 4 illustrates the fact that the tracer may be caused to hug theguide by reasonv of friction alone. In this case there is no magnet, thetracer member 25b being a simple shaft or spindle, the lower end ofwhich i is reduced to form a side-bearing roller 29h' and a top-bearingannular friction surface 33h. It is found that this surface, suryrounding the side-bearing 'roller 29h, conthe templet whatever itsstantly presses the latter against the side of the templet while thetracer revolves, thus causing the tracer to follow the contour of partscorresponding generally to parts in the other views bear the samereference form. Other of magnetic material, if the tracer is providedwith means for magnetizing it, and to position properly the torch,tracer, work and templet, whereupon, on lighting the torch and startingthe motor, the tracer will follow along or around the boundary of thetemplet, causing the torch to yexecute the desired cut without thenecessity for man- -ual control.

What I claim as new is:

1. The combination .of a torch-bearing motion-'reproducing frame, arotary tracer device mounted on the frame with its axis of drivenrotation perpendicular to the plane of movement and adapted to adhere tothe boundary of a guide or templet, and driving means for rotating thetracer device about said axis.

2. The combination with acutting torch and a frame movable universallyin hori- Zontal directions whereon the torch is mounted, of a tracerdevice on the frame rotatable about a vertical axis and adapted toadhereto `the boundary of a guide or templet, and driving means forrotating the tracer device about said vertical axis to cause it to rollalong the templet.

3. The combination with a cutting torch and a frame whereby the torchcan be moved universally in a plane, of means for controlling the torchmovement comprising a rotary driven magnetic tracer device adapted tofollow the boundary of a guide or templet.

4. The combination with ya cutting torch and a frame whereby the torchcan be moved universally in a plane, of a rotary driven tracer devicemounted on the frame with its axis of driven rotation perpendicular tothe plane of movement, and means for lmagnetizing the tracer device.

5. In an apparatus of the kind described,

f having aframe movable in universal hori- 7. In an apparatus of thekind described, having a frame'movable in universal horizontaldirections, a rotary driven magnetic tracer device mounted upon theframe to turn about a vertical axis of -revolution 'and having afriction shoulder to rest upon portion to lzontal directions, anelectro-magnet mountedl on the frame to rotate about a vertical axis andhaving a polar portion adapted to roll upon the boundary of a guide ortemplet,`

means for driving the magnet, and means forsupplying the coil of therotating magnet with energizing current.

10. In an apparatus of the kind described, having a frame movable inuniversal horizontal directions, a rotary driven electromagnet mountedon the frame to turn about a vertical axis and having concentric poles,

of Which the outer is adapted to .extend over the top of a guide ortemplet while the inner projects below to contact with the side thereof.y

11. In an apparatus of the kind described, having a frame movable inuniversal horizontal directions, a rotary driven electromagnet mountedon the frame to turn about a vertical axis and having concentric poles,lof which the outer constitutes a friction shoulder to rest upon the topof a guide or templet, while the inner forms a downwardly projectingroller adapted to act upon the side of the templet.

12. In an apparatus of the kind described, a rotary driven magnetictracer device adapted to follow the boundary of a guide or templet.

13. In an apparatus of the kind described,

a rotary driven combined magnetic and friction tracer device mounted toturn about a vertical axis and adapted to rest upon and to follow theboundary of a guide or templet.

14. In an apparatus of the kind described, a rotary driven tracerldevice mounted to turn about a vertical axis and havingc'oaxial rotarytop'- `and side-bearing portions to co crate with a guide or templet.

15. he combination with a cutting torch and a frame whereby the torchfcan be moved in universal horizontal directions, of means forcontrolling the torch movement comprising a rotary 'driven tracer devicemounted to turn about a vertical axis and having a friction shoulder torest upon the top of a guide or templet and a coaxial downwardprojection to coperate with the side thereof.

16. In an apparatus of the kind described, having a frame universallymovable in horizocntal ldirections, a mechanically-driven tracer devicecomprising a member rotatable about a vertical axis and having coaxialfriction-top-bearing and roller-side-bearing portions to coperate with aguide or templet.

417. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a framemovable in universal horizontal directions, of mecha-v nical drivingmeans thereon, and a tracer device driven by said meansfand compris-.ing a member rotatable .about a vertical a axis and having-an annularfriction surface to bear upon the top of a guide or templet and aportion to bear 'against the sidev thereof.

18. In apparatus of the kind described,

the combination of a rotary tracer device and feed member,electro-magnetic means for causing said member to adhere to the boundaryof a guide or templet, means including an electric motor for driving thelmember, and means for lenergizing and deenergizing the electro-magneticmeans simultaneously with the starting and stopping of the motor.

l STUART PLUMLEY.

